Abstract
This article provides a snapshot of the geographic patterns of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors' court cases and the affected communities in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The regional distributions of cases seen in court dealing with solicitation, inducement and promotion of prostitution, solicitation of children to engage in sexual conduct and use of a minor in a sexual performance are compared here. According to the visual examination of the thematic maps and the spatial statistics analyses, the greatest clustering for any of the offenses potentially related to sexual exploitation and trafficking is for cases that involve solicitation, inducement and promotion of prostitution. These clusters are located in Minnesota's major metropolitan areas and transportation hubs. The maps and the spatial statistics dealing with solicitation of a child to engage in sexual conduct and the use of a minor in a sexual performance are less likely to display clusters of cases in metropolitan areas and transportation hubs. In the majority of cases the patterns are random. Based on news reports and the thematic maps' patterns, the Internet has become a centrifugal force that has maintained a considerable number of child solicitation cases happening outside metropolitan areas traditionally linked to other sex crimes such as prostitution.
Highlights
The solicitation, inducement and promotion of prostitution, sex trafficking and underage sexual exploitation is a problem that has received considerable attention during the past two decades
To begin to better understand the problem, a useful first step is to explain Minnesota’s statutes associated to cases of sex trafficking and solicitation of children to engage in sexual conduct
An important component of the present article is the mapping of county level data relevant to the solicitation, inducement and promotion of prostitution, solicitation of children to engage in sexual conduct and use of a minor in a sexual performance
Summary
The solicitation, inducement and promotion of prostitution, sex trafficking and underage sexual exploitation is a problem that has received considerable attention during the past two decades. This problem is to some extent related to the controversial human trafficking global tragedy. 21), “from a cost-benefit analysis, trafficking is low risk and has high profit margins.” For many traffickers, this activity is more convenient that drug dealing because individuals sold into the sex industry make money for their procurers for a number of years, unlike the profits made from the sale of illegal drugs, which are sold and used once (Hodge, 2008). The lack of identification, prosecution and sentencing of perpetrators for trafficking in humans make this kind of crime profitable and low risk for the trafficker. (Logan et al, 2009, pp. 5-6)
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